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By Endorsing High-CBD Cannabis, New Legislation Will Do More Harm than Good

Word is out about the benefits of high-CBD medical cannabis. Dr. Sanjay Gupta featured the strain Charlotte’s Web on the CNN documentary Weed, and suddenly legislators who had never supported medical cannabis before are coming around. Well, sort of. In Pennsylvania, Alabama, and Utah, bills have been introduced to allow just this one type of cannabis—renamed Alepsia to make it more palatable to marijuana foes—to be used to help children with epilepsy.

As great as it is to see support for this valuable medication come from unexpected places (Utah?!), let’s not forget that Charlotte’s Web is not the only strain of high-CBD cannabis out there. There’s no reason to start a frenzy over this one strain when so many others can help stop seizures.

And the larger issue is that high-CBD cannabis is not the only kind that helps sick children. Many parents have found that they have to play with THC levels to reduce seizures in their epileptic children. And children with other diseases—especially cancer—need THC. Instead of hysteria over getting children “high,” we need medical marijuana policies that give parents a range of options for treating their children’s ailments naturally.

Charlotte’s Web has been incredibly beneficial in treating epilepsy. Its namesake, Charlotte, went from suffering 300 seizures a day to just a few a week when she started using the strain. But many parents have found that this strain isn’t enough—they need to use other strains, including some with higher THC levels, to most effectively reduce seizures.

“My daughter has a severe form of epilepsy. CBD oil has helped tremendously, but it wasn’t until we introduced a small amount of THC that her seizures reduced to zero. I’m sure if you were to ask any parent, they would happily add a touch of THC to reduce their child’s seizures even more. It’s frightening to think that our government might solely focus on CBD when THC is known to have a remarkable affect on epilepsy.” – Martha T., Oregon

In states that only allow this one strain of cannabis, epileptic children will not get treatment that’s as effective as it should be. And children who suffer from other serious medical conditions will not benefit at all.

For example, THC has been shown to damage or kill cancer cells, and it also increases appetite in patients who are undergoing chemotherapy. Children who have leukemia or other types of cancer should have access to the most effective medication possible, and that may have a higher level of THC than this new legislation would allow.

Cash Hyde, a toddler with brain cancer, was weak and miserable from his chemotherapy treatments. His parents, Mike and Kalli, were amazed by the difference cannabis oil made.

“Cashy was a living example of the power of cannabis. He was frail, weak, and comatose—he was dying—before we gave him cannabis oil,” Mike said. “He came back to life and he beat cancer twice. That was no coincidence.”

Cash succumbed to the cancer when after his parents were no longer able to access the cannabis oil that had been keeping him alive. They founded the Cash Hyde Foundation in his honor to spread the word about the importance of full access to medical cannabis.

Many legislators are afraid of medical cannabis because they’re afraid of getting children “high.” Introducing high-CBD-only legislation is an easy out for them. It allows them to support only the “good” kind of cannabis, while still being against the “bad” kind. By supporting Alepsia, they may be further stigmatizing other kinds of cannabis.

Instead of dividing medical cannabis this way, we need legislation that recognizes the value of many strains of cannabis with varying levels of both CBD and THC. It is discriminatory to focus on one component when both have a dramatic effect on diseases. What’s best for patients is safe and legal access to a wide array of cannabis strains and extracts.

VIDEO: DR. SANJAY GUPTA: Here’s Why You Can’t Get The Medical Benefits Of Weed Without The High

If you or a family member has benefited from a medical cannabis regiment, we’d love to hear your story.

Thank you Les,
This bill does state that, for epileptic children, Charlotte’s webb will be authorized. In terms of adults, it does not reduce the terms to soley THC. We understand that.
“This gives patients and physicians the freedom to determine the best administration method for the patient’s condition. This allows adult patients to smoke or vaporize cannabis flower or concentrates, while the children with Dravet’s syndrome can use “Charlotte’s Web” (a CBD-dominant strain) processed into an oil, with parental permission and written certification by their physician (Section 8.b). This particular oil contains very small amounts of THC, and is not smoked.”

While this strain helps many, there are many other high CBD strains available. It is concerning that there are gravely ill children, specifically fighting cancer, that DO need oil (with higher THC) to kill cancer cells.

Thank you Amy for your comment. Yes, we have read the bill. The section that we refer to is the allowance for children with Dravet’s Syndrome and Charlotte’s web (High CBD strain) There are a mulititude of strains that are just as high in CBD’s. Additionally, why are children with cancer not addressed? As noted in Les’inquirey, there are reports and studies that suggest THC is the component that induces apoptosis (cell death).
While we all have our own opinions, we believe ALL patients should have access to the many variations of this plant. Some children with Epilepsy have needed a touch of THC to stop their seizures. We at UPG feel that this should be an option.
All of this said, progress is progress. We DO appreciate all of the people pushing for legislation on any level. This is a subject that we will continue to educate ourselves.
Thank you again for bringing awareness to this subject,

Please provide me the line item text legislation that you are referring to for instance page 12 under subsection (b) line (10) states…..
Thank you i appreciate your attention to this – it is very concerning for me. I must have missed that part.

I noticed you never provided the line item to state this bill was CBD only. There is a list of conditions that include cancer also in this bill. You are not reporting responsibly. You misrepresent. No where does it restrict what condition a child can be treated for or what they can be treated with.

Amy, You may have not seen the clarification that we posted on 2/18. Many organizations, including ourselves, assumed that PhillyNORML’s summation of the bill (Children’s portion) was fact. We were confused as section 8b was “cited” which means that it was taken directly from the bill (see A Writer’s Reference 428-429). In turn, we invited Vanessa Waltz of LadyBud to write a blog to clarify this bill. She did a wonderful job (it is in our blog section) and in turn, we posted it with the message below. Vanessa was able to get NORML to clarify their report as well. We are proud to say that being a “responsible” resource is always our goal. We hope this answers your question.
~The UPG Team

We are happy to say that Vanessa Waltz with LadyBud.com has provided us with a much needed clarification of the Philidelphia’s Senate Bill 1182 regarding CBD and the strain Charlotte’s Web.
We very much appreciate Vanessa correcting us on the issue as our goal is to present the most up-to-date information on medical cannabis.
Here is Vanessa’s recent post, “The Truth About Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana Bill SB1182″

In February 2013 I was diagnosed with inoperable prostate cancer and the recommended treatment was to start with 47 radiation treatments after 6 months of hormone treatment that would statistically help me live seven years.

While researching my options I came across Rick Simpson and his cannabis oil that he claimed cured cancer.

I asked my urologist and GP what they thought about cannabis oil. They both were somewhat amused but said, “You have nothing to lose”.

In Washington state I was about to get a cannabis oil with a high percent THC that was certified by an independent lab. Since I had never smoked a joint I was wondering what the high would be like.

To my surprise there was no high as it is taken orally it is more of a sedative ! In fact it put me to sleep so I took it just before going to bed and slept like a baby.

To make a long story short, six months later I got another biopsy and found I was 99.9% cancer free!

My urologist said this was off the chart, he had never seen anything like it. My GP told some other doctors about my case and suggest that they take another look at Cannabis Oil.

I enjoyed canceling my proposed 47 radiation treatment! My oncologist on the other hand was not happy at all!

If you want to find hundreds of cases where cannabis oil has cured cancer, just do a Google search.

During my six month treatment the total cannabis oil cost a little less than $3,000. It was the best investment I’ve ever made.

Thank you so much for writing on this topic! I benefit from all the cannabinoids and would not be able to treat my condition with only CBD. While it is so beneficial for some, it can’t be the only cannabinoid available.

We are happy to say that Vanessa Waltz with LadyBud.com has provided us with a much needed clarification of the Philidelphia’s Senate Bill 1182 regarding CBD and the strain Charlotte’s Web.
We very much appreciate Vanessa correcting us on the issue as our goal is to present the most up-to-date information on medical cannabis.
Here is Vanessa’s recent post, “The Truth About Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana Bill SB1182″ http://www.ladybud.com/2014/02/18/the-truth-about-pennsylvanias-medical-marijuana-bill-sb1182/